Monday 19th February
It was quite overcast and cool by the time we arrived at Bicheno for our 3 pm check-in at Allure, that we had booked through Booking.com. It was pleasing to find the house very clean, reasonably modern and with everything we needed for our two night stay, including a barbecue on the back deck. Our son in law, Brett, will be pleased to hear that one of the first things we did when we arrived was to put on a load of washing.
We dropped our bags and then headed out to to the local shops to get some supplies for the evening as the plan was to have a barbecue at home. The IGA was the place to shop so we stocked up there and had a lovely BBQ home cooked meal. We did take a bit of a stroll along the water front but it was rather cool and windy so we retreated back to the comfort of the house where we could continue to enjoy the lovely view but without the chill factor.
Tuesday 20th February
It was an overcast start to our one full day in Bicheno but we were very thankful that there was no wind and no rain. We started the day with a walk along the coastal path out to the Bicheno Blowhole, which was about 4 km trek and took us just over an hour but that included lots of photo stops. Apologies in advance here as there are lots of photos today as this is what the area is known for; its beautiful scenery. We took a short cut back through town on the way home so as to grab a coffee, just as the sun was starting to emerge from behind the clouds. We were quite grateful to have the protection of the cloud cover during most of our walk as the sun is blistering when it is out.
We had a fairly lazy morning after that as we’d been on the go since we arrived in Tasmania several days ago. It was after 1 pm before we headed back out and we went to The Lobster Shack for lunch. Mark opted for the fish and chips but I gave the lobster a go and chose the ‘garlic & butter’ sauce option and, of course, all I could taste was garlic and butter but it was nice to get out and sample the local produce. After that, we headed into town to The Farm Shed where you can sample a range of wines from local wineries. This had the advantage of not having to drive around to all the different vineyards in the area; we could sample wines from a few different vineyards but all in the one spot. We found two wines that we liked and these are now on their way back to Bondi. We headed home after that to rest up before dinner as we were dining out for our last night at the local French restaurant, Le Coq Bicheno. It was a nice way to spend our last night in Bicheno as tomorrow we head to the Freycinet Coast.
NB: Our house was lovely and had great water views but we noticed another set of houses just next door that were for rental as well; Cod Rock Point has three different lodgings on the one site and they all look quite nice. Useful if extra lodging is required.
